Archive of Our Own ^beta

Yuta woke up with the sound of his alarm pierced through his ear and sunlight on his eyes. Groaning, he turned off the alarm then rolled on his bed—avoiding the glints of sunlight peeking through his bedroom curtains. His hand reached out for another warm body next to him, but he found nothing. Disappointed, he opened his eyes to make sure he was indeed alone on his bed. Somehow, Jaehyun's absence woke him up more than his alarm did.

Finally wide awake, Yuta remembered that Jaehyun had a night shift in the fire station and he wouldn't be home until nine at least. But then, he would already be going to work at that hour. The realization that they couldn't see each other until he was back from work this evening—or even night, if the photoshoot took a long time—made him pout. Especially when it was also his birthday.

Swallowing down his disappointment, Yuta decided to start his day. He didn't want to be late for an important photoshoot today. Nobody would yell at him if he was late as he was the art director, but it wouldn't look good in front of his co-workers. Not to mention the beach that was decided as the photoshoot location was almost an hour away by car from the city.

He grabbed his phone before lazily dragging his feet to the bathroom, checking his inbox while brushing his teeth. There were a few emails from work and some text messages from his family and friends wishing him a happy birthday. However, only one message caught his attention. It was sent at a little over midnight. From Jaehyun.

Warmth filled his chest as he read Jaehyun's message. His boyfriend was very adorable. Yuta rinsed his mouth with a smile on his face, he even still grinned stupidly when he washed his face. Then, he texted Jaehyun back.

Yuta found his birthday presents in the drawer, just like Jaehyun said. It was not something out of ordinary, just a set of silver butterfly earrings and a new coat, but Yuta loved it. They were beautiful and suited him well. He decided to leave the coat on after trying it out. It was cold as winter was approaching and it would be even colder on the beach.

He captured a mirror selfie and sent it to Jaehyun before walking out of his room to start his day. Alone. There was no morning kiss, no breakfast together with small talk with Jaehyun. Yuta should've been used to this as his boyfriend works at least two night shifts in a week, but today he couldn't help but feeling a little lonely.

His day had not even started, but he was already thinking about going home to Jaehyun tonight.

Surprisingly, his day went quite smoothly. Nobody was late and the weather was as nice as it got in the autumn, even though it was windy and cold. Yuta had never doubted Johnny's talents on taking beautiful pictures, but today he was beyond satisfied with the results. His only problem was the traffic on his way home, but otherwise everything went well.

Fragrant aroma of spice and food wafted in the air when he went home. Jaehyun was in the kitchen, too busy with a knife and cabbages to notice Yuta. A delicious smelling stew was boiling on the stove beside him. And of course, Yuta wouldn't miss a birthday cake with green icing and a bouquet of flowers on their dining table.

Yuta couldn't hold back his smile as a pure wave of happiness crashed into him. He didn't even know what he had been expecting when he had been home. All he wanted was to go home, eat a simple dinner with his boyfriend, maybe cuddle on their couch while watching trashy TV shows before retiring for the night, then fell asleep in Jaehyun's arms. He did not expect cake, flowers, nor a home cooked meal.

But Jaehyun was, well, Jaehyun. Of course he was going to make his birthday special, despite they only had around five hours left before his birthday ended.

He walked towards Jaehyun quietly—the man was still busy cutting a cabbage—and wrapped his arms around Jaehyun's waist. His back was warm against Yuta's chest. Kissing Jaehyun's shoulder, he mumbled a quiet, thank you against his skin.

Startled, Jaehyun dropped his knife. "Yuta—oh my God!"

"Sorry," Yuta smiled, resting his chin on Jaehyun's shoulder. His arms squeezed Jaehyun closer to him. From here, he noticed an unopened bag of flour was on the counter. "You were so busy with vegetables you didn't notice I was home."

"You weren't supposed to be home yet—I mean, this was a surprise. I'm not even done cooking."

"Well, it was indeed a very nice surprise," he kissed Jaehyun's cheek. Yuta dropped his hand from his boyfriend's waist reluctantly, moving to another side of the kitchen to wash his hands. He could see Jaehyun's eyes following him, so he looked back at him with a huge grin on his face. "Thank you so much, Jaehyun."

"Anything for you," his dimples deepened as Jaehyun smiled back at him.

"Did you bake the cake too?" Yuta shot him a question while rummaging through their cabinet, looking for tea and sugar.

"No," Jaehyun continued his interrupted work—cutting the cabbage. "I didn't have enough time to bake. I ordered that from the bakery."

"That's nice. I just wonder if you even got some rest after you went home this morning. You must be tired."

"Yeah. Don't worry. I slept for like five hours." There was a hint of a smile in Jaehyun's voice. He took a glance at Yuta, his gaze was soft and fondness was brimming on his eyes and Yuta felt his heart beat a little faster. Then he continued, "I went to the grocery store at noon. I wanted to make you some takoyaki but they ran out of fresh octopus. So I will make you okonomiyaki instead."

"I figured." Yuta pointed at slices of cabbages and a bag of flour on the table. "Do you need help?"

Jaehyun shook his head. "No. It's your birthday. Please just sit down and tell me about your day."

"It was boring. You don't wanna hear about it." Yuta shrugged, sitting down with a cup of tea in his hand. He wouldn't be much help in the kitchen anyway.

"I don't mind listening to your boring day, Yuta."

"It really was nothing special. The beach was so cold, though. Very windy too. It was grey and dull—but that was exactly the vibes I want for this photoshoot. And, I didn't yell at anyone today."

"It's quite lucky that you have a new coat then."

"Oh, I sure am."

"It looks wonderful on you, whoever chooses it has a good taste."

"Well, I look good on everything," Yuta smiled cheekily. "And nothing."

An adorable giggle escaped from Jaehyun's lips, "Yeah, you do."

A comfortable silence fell between them. Yuta finally felt the exhaustion hammering into his bones. Somehow it got worse when he suddenly remembered that he still needed to review dozens of pictures they took today, choosing a few of them for the magazine's winter special edition. After that he needed to start brainstorming for the concept for the January edition. He closed his eyes, trying to forget the work he had to do before the end of the week.

"Yuta? Babe?"

He felt a gentle touch on his shoulders. Opening his eyes, he looked up to Jaehyun who was standing next to him. "Yea?"

"You okay?" His voice was laced with concern, his brows furrowed.

"I'm fine." Yuta tried to give him a reassuring smile, even though he knew Jaehyun could see through him easily. "I just remember I still have some works to do before this weekend."

A soft kiss landed on his forehead. "Don't think about that tonight. Just enjoy the last few hours of your birthday, okay?"

Yuta had never felt so grateful to have Jaehyun on his side.

"Anything for you, my love."

"Great. Let me finish our food then we can eat." Jaehyun rubbed his shoulders one more time before he went back to the counter.

"Let me help you with the okonomiyaki." Yuta stood up from his seat. Jaehyun didn't say anything, but Yuta did not miss a skeptical look in his eyes when he started mixing the flour. Yuta glanced at him briefly, with a playful smile he said, "I won't forget to season it, this time. I promise."

"Yu?" Jaehyun called him when they were cuddled under the blanket on the bed. It was warm and nice with Jaehyun's arms circling around his body.

"Hm?"

"Out of curiosity, did you make a wish when you blew your candle?"

Now that Jaehyun asked about it, he just remembered that he did not make any wishes when he blew the candles. He did not even think about it. He just blew it after Jaehyun was done singing happy birthday.

"No. Why?" Yuta answered, honestly.

"Nothing. I just wanted to know what you wished for this year."

Yuta rolled to his side to face Jaehyun. Their eyes met in the darkness of their room. "I think I know why I didn't think to wish anything on my birthday."

"And why is that?" curiosity peeked through Jaehyun's voice.

"Maybe because I'm happy with what I have now," his hand reached out to touch Jaehyun's cheek, caressing his cheekbone gently. He pecked Jaehyun's lips softly. "I mean, I have my dream job—well, there is ups and downs but this is what I've always wanted to do, I am happy, and I have a beautiful, kind, amazing man whom I love so dearly with me. What else do I want?"

"May I know who is this beautiful, kind, and amazing man you love? He must've been very lucky to be loved by you."

"I can introduce you to him. I think you're going to love him," he answered with a hearty laugh.

Smiling, Jaehyun leaned in to capture Yuta's lips on a kiss. "No, I think I'm still going to love you more."